PROGRAMME 2009 OF EXTRA

- DOCUMENTARIES IN COMPETITION, OUT OF COMPETITION, SPECIAL EVENTS
- ENCOUNTERS
- RETROSPECTIVE ON MERYL STREEP
- RETROSPECTIVE ON LUIGI ZAMPA
- FISHEYE

The duet (after Bellocchio/Bertolucci and Servillo/Verdone of past editions) is now almost a classic: and will bring together Muccino and Tornatore. The great Q&As will feature Meryl Streep and Richard Gere but also the author Paul Coelho for unprecedented experiment. For the first time a writer has made a film of his novel thanks to continual collaboration via the Internet with his readers. This section - for the first time - will also be showcased in another city, Bologna, where from November 11th to November 15th The Cinema Lumière della Cineteca of Bologna will screen a wide selection for the Extra section. This is a space for unknowns or to rediscover maestros like Olmi and Scorcese, to see female wrestlers of Bolivia (Mamachas Del Ring) and for children who box in Cuba (Sons Of Cuba); there is an innovative and comedic road movie of places in the Holocaust (Simon Konianski) and a road movie entirely set in a house (Bunny And The Bull). There's Iraq filmed by a Marine (Severe Clear) and the Japanese unknown in two premieres (Gravity's Clown and Human Comedy In Tokyo). Another path: the meeting between and art and story. There are portraits of great artists like Maria Lai, Antonio Ligabue, Riccardo Dalisi, Mark Kostabi but it's the innovation of imagery and sound (that is of film), that transforms art into narrative, an exploration of new and promising roads: including the homage (Special Event) to actor Heath Ledger and a viewing of his work in art and video that shows a different side to the actor. Something much closer to art and also the animation of the future Lasseters (the young graduates of the University of Southern California of which Extra will present the premiere of an extraordinary program of shots) and the shorts of the project Onedreamrush: 42x 42 (between David Lynch, Kenneth Anger, Harmony Korine) who will accompany a Q&A with director and actress Asia Argento ("Flimmaker: Instruction for use") able to inhabit the genre films of the father like those of Olivier Assayas or Abel Ferrara and also to direct her own film. And then there is the Italian documentary. This is not a hobby or a geographic expression, as it demonstrates also the travels of Olmi. It is a film providing an X-ray on the Country robust, versatile, adult and revealing in films such as:L'Italia Del Nostro Scontento(Italy Our Displeased One), Fratelli d'Italia(Brothers Of Italy),L'Aquila Bella Mè(Beautiful Aquila). The film of reality is beginning to talk seriously (This year, thanks to President Rondi, the Instiuitio will award The Silver Marc'Aurelio Prize for Best Documentary). The story (it turns upside down and breaks up) a landscape that is nearly impossible to find on TV or in film - even if it's the one we live in.

Extra section is curated by Mario Sesti

Contacts: extra@romacinemafest.org